California Policy & Politics This Morning

Past Republican donors rebuffing GOP candidates to back Jerry Brown -- With Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown expected to romp to reelection this year against little-known rivals, many donors who gave Republican candidates more than $37 million in the last gubernatorial contest are now keeping their hands in their pockets. But those who are writing checks are largely giving them to … Jerry Brown. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/14

John Vasconcellos, veteran legislator, dead at 82 -- John Vasconcellos, a visionary politician whose record 38 years in the California Legislature spanned an era from Ronald Reagan to Arnold Schwarzenegger, died at his Santa Clara home Saturday at the age of 82. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle Jim Miller in the Sacramento Bee$ David E. Early in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/25/14

Election 2014: Bloomfield, Munger, Steyer spending big on candidates -- Bill Bloomfield, a businessman and real estate developer from Manhattan Beach, spent more than $7 million of his own money two years ago in a losing attempt to win a seat in Congress. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/25/14

A killer's rampage in Isla Vista -- At first, when it began, it was lost to the soundtrack of another Friday night in this bluff-top college town: screeching tires and what sounded like fireworks. But then — shattered glass. Sirens. Screams. Adolfo Flores, Kate Mather, Scott Gold in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/14

Guns used in Isla Vista rampage were legally purchased, registered -- Authorities recovered three semi-automatic handguns that belonged to the man who launched a mass shooting Friday through the streets near UC Santa Barbara that left six people and the gunman dead. Rosanna Xia, Kate Mather, Matt Stevens in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/14

UCSB Shooting Victim's Father Blames Politicians, NRA For Son's Death -- Shooting victim Christopher Martinez's father blames "craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA" for his son's death. CNN -- 5/25/14

Isla Vista shooting suspect feared police visit would foil attack -- anta Barbara County sheriff's officials said they had several interactions with the suspect in Friday's Isla Vista deadly rampage but that none of them prompted suspicion. Matt Stevens, Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/14

Napolitano: Rampage very tough to predict, prevent -- University of California President Janet Napolitano says a mass shooting in the community around UC Santa Barbara is "almost the kind of event that's impossible to prevent and impossible to predict." Associated Press -- 5/25/14

GOP's establishment vs. tea party fight flares in primary -- Interest groups from Sacramento have poured more than $500,000 into independent campaign expenditures on behalf of Pastor Rob McCoy's Republican opponent in the June 3 primary, Camarillo businessman Mario de la Piedra. Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star$ -- 5/25/14

Morain: Maybe insiders know what we don’t -- The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is a nothing office. It’d be pointless to stir yourself to vote for such a powerless position on June 3, right? Dan Morain in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/25/14

Walters: Brown budget reflects state’s massive debt -- As he unveiled a revised state budget this month, Gov. Jerry Brown was peppered with questions about new spending that his fellow Democrats were touting – everything from health insurance for illegal immigrants to universal pre-kindergarten. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/25/14

Tribe punishes group that attempted to depose leaders -- Eleven members of the Pala Band of Mission Indians will be banned from attending tribal meetings, voting and holding office on the North County reservation after the group attempted to oust the tribe’s leaders, including its chairman. Edward Sifuentes UT San Diego$ -- 5/25/14

Leland Yee: State refuses to release legislative calendar of disgraced state senator -- In the wake of state Sen. Leland Yee's arrest on public corruption charges, the powerful Senate Rules Committee insists on shielding his official activities from the public by refusing to release his legislative calendars. Matthias Gafni in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/25/14

Book gives details on strategy in landmark gay marriage case -- The city of San Francisco played an important part in the legal battle for same-sex marriage in California, joining the lawsuit by gay rights advocates and crafting the scaled-back, one-state-at-a-time argument that a federal appeals court adopted in striking down voter-approved Proposition 8. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/25/14

Greenhut: Bad oil news is much ado about very little -- Environmentalists are gleeful at the news reported last week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that the amount of recoverable oil from California’s Monterey Shale formation — predicted to be the nation’s largest reserve of oil — is a whopping 96-percent below original production estimates. Steven Greenhut UT San Diego$ -- 5/25/14

Wide-ranging views of forest ringing Coit Tower parking lot -- The $1.7 million, seven-month restoration of Coit Tower did a lot for the building, but little for the once-breathtaking view from the parking lot - which remains largely an eyeful of overgrown trees. Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/25/14

Sacramento emoticons   >--^-:>   >--^-:>   Jack Ohman >--^-:>  >--^-:> in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/25/14

Obama arrives in Afghanistan for surprise visit -- President Obama arrived in Afghanistan Sunday for an unannounced visit to mark Memorial Day with U.S. troops, now in the final months here of America’s longest war, and to begin final discussions over the size of the U.S. force that will remain beyond the end of the year. Scott Wilson in the Washington Post$ -- 5/25/14

Economy, Employers, Jobs   

San Francisco hot housing prices back, bidding wars fiercer than ever -- Kelly's frustration is par for the course in a housing market that, with the exception of a few San Francisco neighborhoods, has now surpassed both the early 1990s dot-com boom and the run-up to the 2008 crash. Prices have climbed 33 percent since 2011, with many neighborhoods exceeding that. J.K. Dineen in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/25/14

Report: Many black, Latino homeowners left behind in housing recovery -- When John Bulgin bought his house in a Fontana neighborhood eight years ago, he didn’t think he would find himself living with his mortgage worth more than the house. Neil Nisperos in the Inland Daily Bulletin -- 5/25/14

More Silicon Valley money headed to China startups -- When Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma founded Alibaba in 1999, he came to Silicon Valley looking for money -- and was rejected by dozens of venture capitalists. Heather Somerville in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/25/14

Education

Students protest UC President Napolitano's Laney College talk -- Laney College students marched in protest and some heckled University of California President Janet Napolitano as she gave a commencement address at the community college's graduation ceremony Saturday. Jaxon Van Derbeken in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/25/14

Immigration / Border

Using Jailed Migrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor -- As the federal government cracks down on immigrants in the country illegally and forbids businesses to hire them, it is relying on tens of thousands of those immigrants each year to provide essential labor — usually for $1 a day or less — at the detention centers where they are held when caught by the authorities. Ian Urbina in the New York Times$ -- 5/25/14

Environment

Upgrading Sacramento’s wastewater treatment could cost $2 billion -- Sacramento’s massive wastewater treatment plant is planning to embark on a $1.5 billion-plus upgrade, one of the largest public works projects in the region’s history, while trying to find ways to sell more treated water to farmers and a power plant to raise revenues. Hudson Sangree in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/25/14

Health

Actors, musicians are big beneficiaries of Obamacare -- In 2011, actress Lynda Berg didn't make enough money to qualify for health insurance through her union. And, on her own, she had trouble finding a plan she could afford because she's a survivor of breast cancer, considered a preexisting condition. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/25/14

Also . . .

When it comes to taking on government, property owners rule -- Since 1909, California law has allowed taxpayers to go to court and challenge state or local government policies that don't directly affect them, like some police practices or real estate developments. The only catch is - according to a state appeals court in San Francisco - you have to be a property owner to file a taxpayer suit. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/25/14

Beltway

Jeb Bush Gives Party Something to Think About -- But in ways big and small, deliberate or subconscious, the younger Mr. Bush seems to have defined himself as the anti-George W. Bush: an intellectual in search of new ideas, a serial consulter of outsiders who relishes animated debate and a probing manager who eagerly burrows into the bureaucratic details. Michael Barbaro in the New York Times$ -- 5/25/14

How Republicans lose by winning -- It’s the predominant paradox of contemporary American politics: If Republicans prevail in this year’s midterm congressional elections, it will be because of their party’s sharp-edged stances on topics like abortion and Benghazi, Obamacare and immigration, gay marriage and the minimum wage — issues that energize the GOP’s core base of support. Todd S. Purdum Politico -- 5/25/14